As the largest Computer Science department in Virginia and ranked among the top 40 CS programs in the United States by csrankings.org, GMU has exceptional opportunities to earn your M.S. degree. Both the MS CS and MS SWE degrees are highly valued across industry. The CS option provides further depth in Computer Science theory; the SWE option delivers a more applied Software Engineering background. Both programs share a number of courses, so there is truly no wrong choice.
This is also a particularly important moment to be thinking about graduate education. As AI continues to reshape software development — automating routine tasks and raising the floor on what employers expect — the engineers who will be most valuable are those with the deeper foundations that undergraduate programs simply don't have time to build. A master's degree is one of the clearest ways to put distance between yourself and a rapidly changing landscape.
If you are already in the B.S. CS program at GMU, the Bachelor's Accelerated Master's (BAM) program is an opportunity too good to skip for anyone who qualifies. The requirements are straightforward: earn a GPA of 3.30 or better in your first 60 credit hours of the BS CS, and complete CS 310 (Data Structures) and CS 330 (Formal Methods). That's it.
Once you apply and are admitted, you can double-count 4 graduate courses (12 credit hours) toward both your BS and MS degrees simultaneously. You can then take 2 additional graduate courses "on reserve" — meaning you pay undergraduate tuition rates rather than graduate rates. That leaves just 4 remaining courses to complete your MS CS or MS SWE degree.
And there is no application fee, no essay requirement, and no GRE. I cannot emphasize enough: if you qualify, apply.
For students already holding a B.S. in Computer Science, you have the option to choose between in-person and online versions of the M.S. Computer Science degree, or the in-person M.S. Software Engineering degree. Application requirements and deadlines for both tracks are linked in the sidebar.
Want to know more or need help with your application? Reach out to me directly — I am happy to work with you.